Author: Papa Giorgio

5-4 Supremes Upheld the 2nd Amendment

Published by Papa Giorgio

The question is… what would the decision be with Kagan? 5-4 upholding it. We are getting a liberal replacing a liberal. No harm no foul.

The Supreme Court held Monday that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live, advancing a recent trend by the John Roberts-led bench to embrace gun rights.

By a 5-4 vote, the justices cast doubt on handgun bans in the Chicago area, but signaled that some limitations on the Constitution’s “right to keep and bear arms” could survive legal challenges.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court, said that the Second Amendment right “applies equally to the federal government and the states.”

(Photos from a Patriot’s Day gun rights rally)

The court was split along familiar ideological lines, with five conservative-moderate justices in favor of gun rights and four liberals opposed. Chief Justice Roberts voted with the majority.

Two years ago, the court declared that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess guns, at least for purposes of self-defense in the home.

That ruling applied only to federal laws. It struck down a ban on handguns and a trigger lock requirement for other guns in the District of Columbia, a federal city with unique legal standing. At the same time, the court was careful not to cast doubt on other regulations of firearms here.

Gun rights proponents almost immediately filed a federal lawsuit challenging gun control laws in Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park, Ill, where handguns have been banned for nearly 30 years. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says those laws appear to be the last two remaining outright bans.

Lower federal courts upheld the two laws, noting that judges on those benches were bound by Supreme Court precedent and that it would be up to the high court justices to ultimately rule on the true reach of the Second Amendment.

The Supreme Court already has said that most of the guarantees in the Bill of Rights serve as a check on state and local, as well as federal, laws.

Monday’s decision did not explicitly strike down the Chicago area laws. Instead, it ordered a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling. But it left little doubt that the statutes eventually would fall….

…(read more)…


Jane’s Give a Short Synopsis of the UK’s “Bulking Up”

Published by Papa Giorgio

JANES

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed to Jane’s full details of the 19 defence programmes being reconsidered by the government.

The total value of projects under review – those which were approved by the Treasury between 1 January 2010 and the general election in May – is about GBP14.5 billion (USD21.6 billion), Jane’s has learnt.

The major defence procurements under review include the A400M military transport aircraft programme (valued by the MoD at GBP3.29 billion); the Airseeker programme, which is intended to replace the Nimrod R.1 airborne signals intelligence and electronic intelligence capability (GBP1.4 billion); and the Search and Rescue Helicopter (SAR-H) private finance initiative procurement (GBP4.7 billion), which the Treasury suspended in mid-June.

The most high-profile deal to come under review will be the Future Rapid Effect System – Specialist Vehicles (FRES-SV) armoured vehicle development and demonstration contract, valued by the MoD at GBP1.44 billion. General Dynamics UK was selected as the preferred bidder in March. This is the lead-in contract for FRES-SV: a programme worth up to GBP9 billion overall.

Staten Island “Jihad” – Robert Spencer Slamdunks!

Published by Papa Giorgio

A community meeting was held in Staten Island, NY to discuss the Muslim American Society’s plans to build a Mosque in an old convent.

Robert Spencer and I made our way over the Verrazano bridge to to fight the stealth take over of a convent in south Staten Island. A couple of weeks back I reported on that the Muslim Brotherhood in the US, the Muslim American Society, had purchased a convent in what was called a ‘mystery sale’.” An underhanded deal had been made for the Church land to be sold to a developer, but then in mysterious and shady deal, the land was sold to the MAS (Muslim Brotherhood.) The arch Dioces sold out the parshishoners without so much as basic cursory knowledge of how Christians have fared in Islamic countries to oppressive, violent Brotherhood, no less? The express and stated goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is a universal caliphate, by any means necessary.

(The entire meeting can be found starting with this first video)

More on the Dearborn, Michigan, Arrests for Witnessing

Published by Papa Giorgio

This is a story that is growing. HotAir posted the initial video, but then later added the “opposition” video, and it seemed like their was more of a disturbance involved. I was skeptical. Now I know why. before showing this longer video, you must watch this opposition view:

There is a concept in Islam called Taqiyya, and I know that it is practiced widely by those persons in the Muslim faith – whether Shi’ia or Sunni. This is used more than many think, the reason? It is simple. Islam doesn’t view moral categories like the West. They do not ask themselves what is right or wrong in a situation. In other words, they do not typically ask themselves what is morally right in a situation when confronted with a truth about their faith or how they present their faith. What we categorize as right or wrong, truth or a lie, they categorize as Muslim and non-Muslim. That’s it. That’s all. Freedom and liberty have no part of the equation. For instance,you must ask yourself this question: “where has Islam gotten strong and personal liberty gotten stronger?” The answer? Nowhere.

This aspect of Islam should worry folks, and show that the type of subversion in the video above is in the Muslim mind not immoral, it is Islam vs, non-Islamists. Here is a slightly longer version of the video, and you will see that the “preaching” referenced in one video was merely an emotional (and true) outburst to what has happened, that is, an arrest for merely handing out Christian literature. Witnessing. Here is the counter to the above video:

So, unfortunately, HotAir, in trying to be fair, got it wrong and played right into the hands of these Islamo-Hooligans. HotAir is typically 99.9% right (giving my alms here), but they got it wrong on this count.

Liberty University Drops Caner — Thanks To Bloggers Pushing This Story

Published by Papa Giorgio

This makes me happy. Often you hear about the pressure from the blogosphere having an impact on the political spectrum, but the Christian “sub-culture” is a little more insulated. So this is big news for us in this “sub-culture.” I first brought this up last year on my older blog December 8th, 2009 — BREAKING NEWS (@ Religio-Political At Least) — Ergun Caner, President of Liberty University, Lying? As well as on March 12th, 2010 — A New Video On Ergun Caner Lies — When Will Liberty University Wise Up?!? Just Because A Muslim Is Pointing This Out Doesn’t Mean Its Not True. I was one of the earlier blogs to catch this story, but the real credit goes to the larger blogs and people who veraciously followed this story. I found my information out via LiveLeak and then through Mirele’s Miscellany’s post (dated August 1st, 2009) Ergun Caner’s Lies Catch Up To Him, Part 1

One such site is the Ministry of Reconciliation, and it moved up the chain of larger blogs until apologists themselves took notice, like Alpha & Omega Ministries (James White). I was glad to be a small part in this larger cog. Good debate took place on this subject all over the Net… many Christians thought it was done with a spirit of malice (see the more recent defense of Caner at Christianity Today [oooops] and click out to James White’s response to it from my post: James White Responds to Liberty University and Christianity Today). It was not, it was done in the spirit of truth. So it is with joy — joy for truth triumphing over fabrications — I post this story dated June 25th, 2010.

LU won’t renew Caner’s contract as dean of seminary

Liberty University said Friday that Ergun Caner would no longer be dean of its seminary, following an investigation into some of his claims about being raised as a Muslim.

Caner has signed a contract to be a member of the seminary’s faculty next year, the university said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Four members of Liberty’s Board of Trustees who conducted the investigation found that “Dr. Caner has made factual statements that are self-contradictory,” the university said.

The panel, however, basically supported Caner’s testimony of being a former Muslim who converted to Christianity.

The contradictions came in “matters such as dates, names and places of residence,” the LU statement said.

Although LU didn’t provide any more details about the discrepancies, Caner said in several speaking engagements in 2001 and later that he was raised in Turkey before coming to the United States as a teenager.

He also said he was trained in Islamic jihad, a term associated with terrorist activity, according to recordings made in 2001 of his comments at First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., and Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

However, his parents’ divorce papers, on file in a Columbus, Ohio, courthouse, indicated the family moved from Stockholm, Sweden, to the U.S. when Caner was about 4 years old, and continued to live in the Columbus area.

Caner’s father was a Muslim who sought to raise his children in the Islamic faith, although he had only part-time custody after the divorce, the documents indicate.

“Dr. Caner has cooperated with the board committee and has apologized for the discrepancies and misstatements that led to this review,” the LU statement said….

…(read more)…

Petraeus v. Democrats Blowhards — Some History (Slam Baby! Who Was Right??)

Published by Papa Giorgio

The following is with much thanks to Abu Wabu, to which there is much more there to read:

Victor Davis Hanson:

It is one of the ironies of our present warped climate that Petraeus will face far less criticism from the media and politicians than during 2007–8 (there will be no more “General Betray Us” ads or “suspension of disbelief” ridicule), because his success this time will reflect well on Obama rather than George Bush. It is a further irony that Obama is surging with Petraeus despite not long ago declaring that such a strategy and such a commander were failures in Iraq. And it is an even further irony that he is now rightly calling for “common purpose” when — again not long ago, at a critical juncture in Iraq — Obama himself, for partisan purposes on the campaign trail, had no interest in the common purpose of military success in Iraq.